lepreau@utah-cs.UUCP (03/03/84)
I have had a Nikonos IV-A for one and a half kayaking seasons now (that's
over 2 months on the river!). I also sail small boats, but haven't used it
for that yet. It is wonderful to get pictures of stuff I could never get
before. Overall, I would say it is excellent. Fine pictures, no leaks, and
it gets immersed frequently-- of course I haven't had it below a couple feet
in my use. It's also (apparently) tough, and since it keeps out water it
also keeps out sand and snow in hostile conditions.
The negative things are:
1. The metering doesn't seem to work as well as it might; in particular
it may weight the upper center too much. Thus my pictures in narrow canyons
tend to be underexposed. However, more recent use suggests that it may just
be a problem with reflection off the water, which is my fault, presumably.
However:
2. It is inconvenient to override the automatic exposure and still use the
meter. The only practical way is to change the ASA setting temporily,
which is A) non-intuitive, B) easy to forget to change back, and C) possibly
risky, as that is not one of the controls designed to be changed underwater.
Still, I've done it a lot w/o screwing up.
3. It lacks a very simple but useful exposure-compensating device that
other (non-marine) rangefinders I have used have had: the ability to freeze
the exposure by depressing the shutter button half way. Thus one can take
a reading off a spot you know is "right", hold down the button, then aim
the camera at the real subject. I sorely miss this.
4. It's pretty heavy (compared to normal rangefinders); however in water-borne
sports that shouldn't matter.
Still, it's great considering how one can use it. I should add that
I've only used the normal (35 mm I think) lens, but I have heard of one
kayaker who carries the long lens tied to his chest in some waterproof
contraption, and changes in the calm stretches. I got mine for less than
$300 from NYC mailorder.
Jay Lepreau, lepreau@utah-cs, {harpo,hplabs}!utah-cs!lepreau
(hmmm, time for a cute signature line:
come to USENIX and boat the Salt Lake City floods!)